Good Day BIO: On Earth Day, 137 million Americans breathe unhealthy air

Today is Earth Day—so we’re looking at the links between air quality and human health, and how biotech can deliver solutions for a cleaner, healthier planet and population. Also, everyone’s talking about PBMs—but what exactly are they? (594 words, 2 minutes, 58 seconds)

Earth Day: 137 million Americans breathe unhealthy air – but biotech can help

On Earth Day, we look at the increasingly alarming link between air pollution and human health—and why we need to invest in biotech solutions to solve all of our climate change challenges. 

“Despite decades of progress on cleaning up sources of air pollution, more than 40% of Americans—over 137 million people—are living in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of particle pollution or ozone,” says the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2022, published yesterday.

“This is 2.1 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report,” the American Lung Association continues.

Watch: American Lung Association’s Rebecca Glommen advocates for clean air and lung health

Biotech’s got solutions—specifically sustainable aviation fuel. Last year, United Airlines flew the world’s first passenger flight powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel, produced with help from BIO member Virent—listen to the incredible story. 

But it’s much more than the air. Biotech is delivering solutions to deal with all kinds of planetary challenges, from bioplastics and biochemicals to thwart the pollution of our water, to gene editing to help plants thrive in the face of climate threats. 

The theme for Earth Day 2022: Invest in Our Planet—and as we reported yesterday, this includes investing in the bioeconomy and biotech solutions that can bring about a greener, more prosperous future.   

Read and share.

More Agriculture & Environment News:

The Boston Globe: In an effort to curb Lyme disease, scientists hope to release thousands of genetically altered mice on Nantucket
“The engineered rodents would look exactly like the native white-footed mice. But each of their cells would carry genetic code, specially tailored in an MIT lab, for resistance to the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. White-footed mice are a key reservoir for the harmful bacteria.”

I am BIO: Earth Day

What are PBMs, anyway?

We find out.

“PBMs are companies that manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of private health insurers, Medicare Part D drug plans, large employers, and other payers,”says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) . “The largest PBMs are vertically integrated with health insurance companies and specialty pharmacies, giving them financial incentives to steer patients to use their affiliated services.” 

Put very simply: If a drug manufacturer prices a drug at $1000, a PBM often is able to negotiate that price down by 50% in exchange for putting those drugs on their formulary. 

The problem? These savings aren’t passed on to patients, Dan Durham, Senior Health Policy Advisor and Executive Vice President for Health Policy at BIO, told us in an exclusive interview.

“I and others call this system reverse insurance,” said Durham. “Either you or your employer pays a large portion of your premium and the idea is when you get really sick your health plan covers your costs, right? Well, this is reverse insurance. When it comes to prescription drugs, those that are the sickest and need high cost specialty medicines are the ones that are paying the most out of pocket.” 

So, what next? The FTC is soliciting public input on how PBMs are affecting drug affordability and access, with the comment period closing on May 25. 

Read and share the whole thing—and stay tuned as we’ll be following this issue closely.

President Biden’s Friday: He’s in Washington State. At 1:30 PM ET, he’ll deliver remarks on Earth Day and the climate crisis. Then, at 3:30 PM ET, he’ll call on Congress to pass his plan to lower health care and energy costs. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess.